Classifications
by KdraManga
Summary: Follow Mcalaster Knox, a mage that became a knight in order to form his own style of fighting: The Arcane Warrior! As his town is being destroyed by blood mages, he forms an  alliance with a beautiful templar not knowing what they got themselves into.


**Chapter 1**

Sometime after the Mage Templar War of Kirkwall, there was a young pregnant mage that fled the Circle to the town of Ansberg. She bore a son named Mcalaster Knox and trained him in magic. Growing up, it was explained he should never use magic in front of anyone and once he became of age, he became a Knight. It was only in secluded woods he could practice combining swordsmanship with magic to form his own style of fighting.

One foul evening, There was a particularly bad thunderstorm making it appear as if the Maker Himself were angry. Lightning made the sky go from as black as pitch to as bright as day. The thunder felt like one being hit in the chest with the mightiest hammer from Orzammar.

Everyone in town was uneasy due to the storm's intensity, but being a Knight on guard, you didn't have the luxury of staying indoors. It's bad enough every time it rained, the roads turned into mud, but it had rained particularly bad this night and there was at least a foot of rain on the ground with no signs of stopping.

After finishing making one's rounds, the fifteen Knights gathered to discus possibly going inside to warm up or just quitting the watch altogether. As they started heading back, they suddenly noticed a wagon towing a cage of prisoners going through the town. It seemed like a templar with eight prisoners. The Commanding Knight walked up to out find his destination. "Oh, just heading to the Circle." he replied. "Well, Sir Templar, this town's Circle has recently been abandoned. There are only four of you left and they have nothing to do! Why don't you take the other templars with you as you leave?" "Just four?" asked the templar. With a scow on his face, the Commander replied to him again. "Aye... Seeing it's condition, couldn't you tell?"

Just then, the templar put his hands in the air and bright red energy surrounded him. Before anyone had time to process what they were witnessing, a powerful force blasted the knights on the ground. As the knights started gaining their composer from the sudden attack, they realized all the prisoners were out the cage and had surrounded them. A number of knights were still gagging from swallowing water during their fall and were caught unaware by the first wave of magic attacks. Their numbers were reduced to half in a matter of seconds! Due to hearing screams, some of the townspeople looked out of their houses to witness a site of horror as knights were picked off by what could only be blood magic. Even though the remaining knights fought valiantly, they only managed to slay two of the mages. By the time anyone was able to retrieve the templars, all but the Commander was slain.

When the templars caught up to the mages, they watched the last bit of life get drained out of his body then flung eighty feet in the air to only collapse through a stable's rooftop. The mages laughed evilly with their heads cocked to the side and four of them turned into abominations.

The templars ran in quickly to dispatch them, but it was not a even battle. Had they not used blood magic, there would have not been a fight. They managed to cut down all but a blood mage and three abominations, but the cost was high and they were down to two templars. One brown haired male in his forties and the other a red-headed beauty in her early twenties. She had wild crimson hair that went a bit past her shoulders, light freckled cheeks and the deepest emerald-green eyes one could ever imagine.

One of the abominations decided to leave the fight and start reeking havoc on the town. It caused destruction on buildings, slaying townsfolk, breaking anything it can get it's claws on and tormenting anything that moved.

Meanwhile Mcalaster Knox had just returned to the city after finishing a job request elsewhere. When he arrived, he was in shock to what he had witnessed. More than half the town had been destroyed and there were bodies everywhere! There was a female templar being pinned down by two abominations and a mage spinning around playing with blood, making patterns in the air. He was laughing hysterically.

Knox ran into the fight and preformed a heavy back stab slaying one of the creatures. The blood mage stopped in his tracks and realized what had just occurred and spun around to face the new comer to the fight. The mage started hurling spell after spell at Knox and he nimbly dodged their strikes and spun around using acrobatics. Annoyed the blood mage started gathering mana mingled with blood from near by bodies and released a meteor shower of fireballs from the sky all focused on him! What looked as certain death, Knox stood his ground and waited for it to hit him. The Templar shouted at the idiot to move, but he just raised his sword above his head and as each fireball came in contact, he sliced right through them! When it seemed they would engulf his body, the balls of flame would split in two parts and pass him, hitting buildings hundreds of feet around him. After a quick twirl of his sword, he stuck his blade in the ground and positioned his body into a horse stance.

The blood mage started animating the dead bodies around him and raising fifty skeletons from the earth. Knox brought his hands to shoulder height with opened palms facing him. Suddenly the blazes of the burning buildings collected in his palms and his hands started glowing molten yellow. With that, he spun in a tiger claw stance and unleashed a wall of fire! All minions dead or animated along with the Mage were incinerated on the spot.

Only the abomination attacking the templar survived by briefly going underground! The templar was tired and could no longer maintain her anti-magic shield. With a white flash, the shield disintegrated into dust-like energy that fell to the ground. Her knees gave way and she laid hunched over waiting for the finishing blow.

As the abomination leaped into the air to deliver a powerful blow, some water inches from her face suddenly shot up to form a thick wall of ice! Upon impact, it was knocked out while causing the ice to buckle from it's weight! The templar rolled out of the way just before getting crushed, collected herself and brought her sword above her head. As she stabbed downward to deliver the final bow, she noticed the blade was covered in ice and emitting a cone of snow falling like a blizzard. In mere seconds, the creature was in a block of ice and she couldn't help but be amused! Finally yanking the sword out of the creature's body, she looked over to Knox with a huge grin on her face. Knox who was now on one knee, dropped his arm and the elemental-weapon spell dissipated.

With both of them finally able to breathe, she informed him of a potential abomination still running around that needed slaying. After finding and killing it, Knox parted ways with the templar and went home. With his mother out trading goods, she wouldn't be home for a week. "I can't imagine the mortified look on her face when she sees her room!" Technically his house was fine, minus the destroyed walls in his mother's room. The gaping hole was very apparent as he made his way up to his house.

**Chapter 2**

A worn out Knox climbed up his steps and went inside. Upon walking in, it was a simple wooden 1 story house with 1 bedroom. They had wooden furniture with simple designs made of dark wood. There was a round table in the center of the room with lit candles and two chairs placed around it. In the far left corner was a bed against the walls and a fireplace was on the far right wall. There was also a small hallway on the right of the room that led to the bedroom and toilet. It wasn't a mansion with decorative Orlesian furniture that would make the eyes swoon, but it was home.

When Knox walked inside his doorway, there was a huge puddle at his feet. While taking his boots off at the door, he looked inside them and saw the pools of water he collected. After turning them over to empty it's contents, he threw them to the side somewhere and stumbled up to the fireplace. After plopping belly down on the floor in front of the open flame, he cursed his stupidity for forgetting to take off the armor first! "Owe!" He rolled over and began taking off his armor. _Maker's Breath it felt wonderful! This is the bliss of one in nothing but his small clothes! _

He tried his best to not think of what had just occurred. The town being destroyed, the people that died, it made no sense to him. Then there was the attractive templar he ran into... Well, maybe he might indulge himself a little on that front. He needed anything to take his mind off the pain. During the couple of years he had been a knight, he had gotten to know several of them personally, but now they're dead.

After finally becoming dry, he decided it was finally time for him to climb into bed. After a short while, Knox was fast asleep. Feeling like something had lightly disturbed him, Knox barely opened his eyes to see the female templar staring at him from the fireplace. The way the golden light danced off her features and armor, could only be called perfection. She knelled down close to his face not sure if he heard her. Knox seen her mouth move but didn't hear a word come out. Still half fading out of consciousness, Knox raised his hand to lightly touch upon her cheek. "Andraste, have you always been so beautiful?" With that, Knox's hand dropped from her cheek and he passed back out! Not sure what to do or how to respond to the sudden compliment, she could only sit there biting her lip wide-eyed! It wasn't even an answer to the question she was asking! Did he even mean the comment he made or was it just sleep talk? A long moment passed and she decided to remove her armor to start drying herself by the fire. She decided to try waking him again and lightly shook him. Upon doing so, Knox re-opened his eyes and seen the her sitting by his bed. Her head was slightly turned away and her eyes looking elsewhere. Her cheeks seemed flushed and she looked slightly uncomfortable. He thought, "Surely, I'm still sleeping!" and closed his eyes. The very idea of her suddenly appearing in his home and sitting in front of him in her small clothes was so preposterous, he chuckled to himself. "Right... and I'm to believe you'd suddenly appear at my bedside? Fine. Come, hop in! I haven't got all night!" with that he lifted the covers expectantly and waited! "So that's it? Exchange no pleasantries? Don't ask why I'm suddenly in your home at night without permission and just hop in?" she replied in a thick Orlesian accent.

Thinking to herself, _Is life really that simple out here that no one questions so many random events?_ With her reply, his eyes shot open and he sat up straight. She was really here? He looked over and saw her now standing brandishing her sword! "I'm warning you! I'm a holy Knight Templar, so don't get any funny ideas! There aren't many houses left standing and I fought with you so..." she started yelling this as a retort, but it faded into a mumbling plea.

Maybe his sudden movement unnerved her into second thoughts. "Fine you can sleep in the other bed." he replied , but judging from the scow on her face, she must have found out the room's buried in rubble. Knox smiled, then started laughing. "So are you planning to murder me in cold blood and steal my pillow?" With an incredulous look she crossed her arms and made a retort. "Of course not! So... I can stay here and your willing to share your bed?" "Sure. Are you going to at least tell me your name as you hop in?"

She slowly approached the bed and he made room for her. "Jeanie Lorraine. I'm only doing this cause I haven't had a good nights sleep in a while and I'm cold! I don't go around doing this!" Knox shrugged his shoulders. "What are you exactly? I've never heard of a mage becoming a knight before. How is this possible?" "I trained in both. I was a mage that liked swords growing up and no one questions a knight for being a mage, so that's what I became. I call my class of fighting, Arcane Warrior!"

After thinking about his response, minus the naming, it made sense. No one she's ever heard of in their right mind would attempt such a feat. While in deep thought, her mind suddenly went blank as he put his arm around her. "What are you doing?" "Trying to get back to sleep! You'd have to had known this would be a tight fit before you stepped in. Don't tell me your afraid of this amount of contact? Don't worry princess, I won't steal your holy chastity unless you want me too. Oh, Imagine the scandal!" "That's not funny!" With that, she elbowed him in the stomach hard! His head collided into the back of hers upon reflex and they both were in a world of pain. Mere moments later they were both fast asleep due to exhaustion.

The next morning Lorraine woke up with her face in her hands. "Maker what have I done? I slept with a mage!" She then faces the ceiling with her hands together and continues. "Technically he's a knight...that does magic! Maker does it count?" Knox pulls close and whispers in her ear. "Oh, it counts! You're one of us now!" "No!" screamed Lorraine. Laughing hysterically, Knox gets out of bed and gently tosses a grape-sized fireball at her. She raises a hand to cleanse the area of magic and it disappears. "Darn... I guess your still a templar!" he said with a smirk.

Some time later, Knox leaves the house followed by Lorraine. "Don't think I won't take you to the circle cause I slept with you!" she shouted. "What good would that abandoned place do?" smirked Knox. "Why would a knight go to The Circle?" said a female voice from several feet away. Looking around, they discovered a red-headed Seeker. Lorraine shouted, "Seeker Leliana?"

Both Knox and Lorraine froze in place. Not only did they not expect anyone to be there at that moment, but to have a Seeker of all things and a very important one was not something to be expected. A cold sweat went down Lorraine's head. _If she heard the "Send you to The Circle" part and witnessed her coming from his house at this time of day..._ "So if you're a mage, why do you wear a knight's armor? With the Circle here abandoned, why the disguise?" said Leliana. "It's mine." replied Knox. Lorraine tried to change the topic and offer an explanation to her coming from his house.

"There was a attack as you can see by a group of blood-mages. After the attack, most the town was destroyed leaving little options for me to take shelter. Knight Knox aided me during the battle so, I ended up there." "He willingly aided a templar and used magic to fight alongside you?" "Yes Seeker Leliana. Well, he used sword attacks and magic. Given our current situation, I wasn't sure what to do with him, if anything."

At that moment, Lorraine pulled her sword from it's holster and pointed it her own neck. She closed her eyes and prepared to stab when Knox slapped it out of her hands. "What do think you're doing?" asked Knox with a look of bewilderment on his face. "Trying to kill myself! Just because the tower is lost, I shouldn't have abandoned my duties! I won't have Seeker Leliana dirty her hands on such a lowly templar as myself! I failed the Chantry as a templar and slept with you!" With this, Knox rounded on Lorraine."What's the point of me saving you, if you were going to throw yourself on your sword the next day?" Lorraine started arguing with Knox back and forth about letting her die and Knox wasn't having any of it. Leliana was surprised and started laughing moments later at the scene in front of her. Both Knox and Lorraine turned from each other in confusion of the sudden laughter.

"You two fight like an old married couple!" said Leliana. Knox's mouth dropped open and realized she was being dead serious. Her expression wasn't of anger or accusation, but of pure amusement. " I'm not here to pass judgment on you. I was on a mission and heard of the destruction here. You said yourself that when the town was being attacked, he came to your aid and you two managed to save lives. So what he's a mage?" "Seeker?" Lorraine looked confused and Knox expression mirrored her's. "I was just curious of about him wearing a knight's armor, but being a mage. You may not have heard, but most of the towers are falling now. There's likely a war coming for mages to obtain their freedom from the looks of it. Though it's said to be mage vs templar, not all templar agree with the circle needing to exist. There are many templar on both sides and many in the Chantry that agree change is needed. Templar Lorraine, starting today, the knight-mage next to you is your new post."

"What?" replied a dumbstruck Lorraine. "Follow him. If he stays or travels, you'll observe him and see what mages are really like. That's your new post for the rest of the year. After that, you may do as you please. How are you on lyrium?" "I raided the tower actually... I should be well off for a while." Leliana handed Lorraine a piece of parchment. "That note will say you're taking orders directly from me. That will make it so no else can give you orders and to spare any supplies you request. If worst comes to worst, you'll have to pursue other ways to get lyrium." "Knox raised an eyebrow and shook his head. " I can't believe I'm saying this, but..." He trailed off for a moment, hesitating on finishing his sentence. "I know someone who trades in it. I helped them when they got busted and they gave me quite the stock pile of it..." Lorraine stared at Knox with her jaw to the floor and Leliana looked impressed. "You just happen to know someone and they willingly gave you a huge pile of lyrium?" ask Lorraine. "Well, he's a dwarf and they were going to kill him when they found out he wasn't strictly dealing with the Chantry amongst other things he was trading..." Knox looked like he swallowed something unpleasant at the thought.

"Well, I guess I'll be going. I'll get someone to look into rebuilding the town, but it might be a while. Good luck you two!" said Leliana as she walked away and started leaving. Lorraine and Knox waved her off and Knox started heading for his house. Lorraine stood in the same spot she was in until she noticed Knox come out moments later carrying a bow a quiver. She was pondering why she was given such a strange order to follow someone she had just met and what she would gain from being with an apostate. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Knox sudden appearance with a bow and a bucket. _He sure is the strangest mage I've ever run into. What is he doing with a bow? _Lorraine followed Knox as he walked to a trail leading into the woods.

**Chapter 3**

The trail was big enough for two horses to walk side by side covered in dead leaves, twigs and fallen branches. On both sides, were thick bushes, plants and trees as the winding path cut through the hills. There were patches of sunlight that could be seen on the forest floor and there was a gentle cool breeze.

Lorraine followed Knox with a expression of curiosity that quickly turned into annoyance. "We're are we going?" Knox turned turned his head to her as she matched his pace. "We're getting food. There is a river just over the hill coming up. We're getting off the path here. Are you any good with a bow or would you rather fish?" Knox replied. "You're joking? You expect me to hunt my food? Don't let this armor fool you. I come from quite the prestigious family." "Will that fill your stomach at night? With the markets destroyed, finding food ourselves is the only way we don't starve tonight." replied Knox. "Are you sure there's no one we can beat up or steal from to get it?" ask Lorraine. "What are you a bandit?" said Knox as he looked at her with wide-eyes. "Desperate times right? I've already slept with a mage, so it's not like I can do any worst...Oh, sorry!" Lorraine covers her mouth and looks up toward the trees. Knox looks at her incredulously and starts chuckling. "Oh please, we both know you've never slept with anyone. The sound of your chastity belt clanging under that armor will surely drive off all the animals!" They both started laughing, but Lorraine seemed to be slightly less amused by his comment.

They finally arrived at the river bank. It was a little more than a hundred feet across and stretched on further than the eye could see. The water had fast moving rapids with a cobalt blue tint to it. There were an uncountable amount of rocks and boulders as big as a man that made up the river's shore.

Knox found a large stick and attached some string and a hook to it. After digging through the mud for a few minutes, he found a small supply of bugs to use as bait. Lorraine watched the whole process in bewilderment and disgust. She definitely wasn't going to be fishing anytime soon.

Knox jammed the fishing rod between some rocks to hold in in place and laid down on the smoothest boulder he could find. Lorraine found one not far from him and did the same. As Knox looked into the water waiting for a bite, Lorraine suddenly spoke. "It's never came up before!" Knox sat up and turned around to face Lorraine, looking at her in confusion. "I'm sorry, what are we talking about?" ask Knox. "It's not that I couldn't sleep with a man. I could if I wanted! It just hasn't happened yet!" she retorted. "I didn't realize we were still talking about that. Look, I don't doubt it will happen for you...some day. At sword point I'm sure, but It'll happen." Knox turns his head and smirks sarcastically.

In one swift motion, Lorraine gets up and kicks Knox off his boulder. It didn't hurt him in any way, but when he went to get up, he felt slightly drained for a moment like he had just finished casting a spell. It took a brief moment to realize what just happened. "Just now, when you kicked me, your foot was glowing! Did you just use an anti-magic spell on me?" "I don't know what you're talking about." Lorraine's disdainful tone and expression said otherwise. "You seriously did... Look at the abuse of power!" Knox started sucking his teeth. "No wander mages are uprising..." Lorraine snorted and looked at Knox with a eyebrow raised. "I ought to give you another Righteous-filled kick in your backside for dragging me out here and taking so long." said Lorraine under her breath.

Finally too bored waiting for a fish to bite, Lorraine sets off in the forest to attempt hunting with a bow. After searching around for a while, she came across a rabbit and decided it was to cute to shoot and let it go. Several hours later she found a deer and missed it by twelve feet and miraculously the deer didn't run, but knew something was wrong. It looked agitated and started walking away when she took her second shot. She still missed it, but only by a four feet or so. Frustrated, she cursed herself for her bad aim. "Well, we definitely aren't having deer for dinner tonight. Not with your terrible aim." Lorraine turned around to see Knox walking up with a pale of fish.

Lorraine sighed and looked into the bucket. She smiled brightly at seeing that there was a good amount inside and that they wouldn't be starving. "Wouldn't this had been much easier with magic?" asked Lorraine. "I mean, why use a bow or fishing rod? You could have easily came here, hit the deer with a fireball or froze the river or get fish." said Lorraine. "Well I could probably instantly roast a deer or freeze a part of the river and get fish, but it wouldn't be as fun. It doesn't take effort for me to do it that way and it's only this quiet this time of year. Normally there would be people nearby, so using magic wasn't in my best interest. Most of the town is dead now so it's probably safe to do, but I didn't think about it at the time." replied Knox. Deciding they both had been out in the forest for long enough, they headed back home.

It was evening and Knox was busy preparing the food when Lorraine shouted for Knox to come to the bathroom door. Her armor was off and she was inside in her small clothes. "What's wrong? Do you need something?" "Well, you suggested I relax since I can't cook and I wanted to take a bath. You told me to let you know when the water was ready, but I don't see any water. Does this mean I have to grab a bucket and fill it myself from a pump?" She looked disappointed and started to walk out the room when Knox stopped her. "Put your hand inside." "What? Why would I put my hand in an empty tub?" she replied. "Do it and you'll see templar." with that Knox walked away to check on the food and a loud scream followed by a thud could be heard moments later from the bathroom.

Lorraine ran from the bathroom to the kitchen area and looked at Knox in half amazement and half terrified. "Where did the water come from? It was empty then..." "It's a magical water basin. Other than the decorative designs on the sides of the tub, there are actually runes. It's facing the wall just in case anyone sees a glimpse of it. Don't worry, it's safe. In fact, you could drink it if you like." said Knox. Knox and Lorraine walked back to the tub and Knox heated up his hand with a fireball and dunked his hand into the water. You could see the water boiling around his hand. He moved it back and forth in the water until it was a good temperature and had her test it. Seeing it was to her liking, he walked out and closed the door.

When Lorraine stepped in, it felt as good as being in a hot spring! She sighed as she got comfortable and enjoyed herself. It had been a while since she got to enjoy a real bath and she wasn't about to get out anytime soon. It had been over an hour and she was still sitting there. The water had been lukewarm for quite some time now, but she didn't want to leave.

There was a knock at the door. Lorraine snapped out of her daze and covered up expecting him to burst in. "Your food has been done a while now. I know that water has to had been cold for some time too." said Knox. "Hmm. I'll be out in a minute." with that, Lorraine hopped out and got dressed so she could eat. After they ate, Knox went to take his bath and Lorraine started polishing her armor.

When Knox came out of the bath, he noticed Lorraine setting her armor neatly against the wall near the bed. Knox sighed, then walked over and sat on the bed. Lorraine looked up and noticed his expression. "What's wrong Knox? After taking a bath, you have such a gloomy expression." "It wasn't the bath." Knox sighed again. Knox put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his hands. "I need to go to Antiva tomorrow." "Antiva? Why? What's in Antiva?" asked Lorraine. "One of my fellow knights was from there. His family will want to know of his death." replied Knox. "I see."

Knox climbed into bed telling her that they'll need to pack and set out sometime tomorrow. Lorraine hopped into bed after him and before the cover got to even settle, Knox started sniffing at her neck. Mid trying to settle in, Lorraine froze and went wide-eyed. She started to giggle at the odd behavior until one of Knox's hand went around her breast. Lorraine went red-faced and tried to quickly regain her composer. She turned to face Knox and pretended she was about to kiss his ear, but when she was close enough to, she whispered something in a menacing tone. "If you ever try that again, I'll cut you down in your sleep." With that she lightly kissed his cheek and Knox froze in place. "You're radiant when your angry." replied Knox. Lorraine looked at him incredulously and seriously pondered running him through just to make a point. She sucked her teeth and turned around to try and fall asleep. "My sword's right next to the bed." Stated Lorraine. "Coming from the person who bragged about sleeping with someone..." Knox mumbled under his breath. Lorraine jerked her body around and Knox immediately closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

The next morning, Knox woke up while trying to roll over and noticed he couldn't move. Slowly opening his eyes, he realized his hand felt a soft sensation. He squeezed his hand a few times and thought he recognized the feeling. Looking over, he noticed Lorraine had grabbed his hand and cupped it around her breast while they slept! His eyes shot open and he snorted. _For someone who made all that fuss last night, she sure has a funny way of disapproving. _Knox tried to remove his hand, but his arm was under hers and as he tried to gently get free, Lorraine's grip tightened and she rolled onto her stomach.

Knox was now on top of her trying not to put all his weight on her. His body was making involuntary actions and he didn't see this ending well. Several minutes passed and after a few more futile attempts he gave up. He decided he might as well get comfortable seeing how as soon as her eyes open, she was more than likely to run him through. What could he say as his defense? He's on top of her and currently groping her in her sleep. _Well, mages get killed by templars for less right? It's not the worst reason to die. _Just then, Lorraine started to roll over to face where Knox used to be and Knox felt gravity starting to tip him over the bed! As he started to fall he desperately tried to reach for part of the bed to keep him from going over, but it was futile.

There was a loud thud! Knox was on the floor with his arm bend at an awkward angle. Lorraine seemed to have stirred from the noise and started to get up. As she did, Knox was able to pull his arm out from under her without her noticing. Lorraine turned around to see Knox rubbing his head as he sat up.

Lorraine looked at Knox like he lost his mind. "What are you doing?" Knox quickly got up and calmly headed to the restroom. "Toilet! I just tripped over your sword and didn't mean to wake you!" Replied Knox. "I see." said Lorraine. As Knox closed the door, Lorraine burst into a fit of muted laughter! She had a hand covering her mouth and one at her sides.

**Chapter 4**

After they left the house, they found two horses and started leaving town. The road was big enough to let three horses by, covered in autumn's fallen leaves. The trees where still full of yellow and brown leaves on both sides and it seemed that one would be swallowed by the forest if not for the path they were on.

After a few hours past, Lorraine suddenly burst into laughter and Knox looked around expecting to see someone else whom might have told her a joke. "What's so amusing that you'd burst into a fit laughter? Did you see something just now?" "No. I was just remembering you trying to fondle me this morning and not get caught." Knox turned his head and made a retort. "I wasn't trying to fondle you! You took my hand and I..." Knox stopped mid sentence and a look of horror came across his face. He now realized what happened. She had been awake the whole time and planned it! Knox looked daggers at Lorraine clearly seething. "Well, as long as you learned you lesson!" Lorraine said with a prideful expression. "Maker let me kill her..." Knox muttered only loud enough for him to hear.

On the road, as the two of them rode their horses, they went from awkward silence to chatting about nothing important. Knox asked her about her becoming a templar and she stated she seen a female templar as a child and liked her armor. She told him about her fascination for swordsmanship and after years of nagging her parents they had finally let her learn and she became a templar. Ansberg was actually her first assignment after training.

"Why there of all places?" Lorraine thought about it. "Well I was told there was an apostate that fled by river from Hunter Fell and was heading for Starkhaven. He killed a number of people and we were to stop him as my first mission. It was more of a reason to travel outside Orlais than anything. Thinking back on it, I must have been insane! I was so mad at what he did, I vowed to find him or never return home! They called me crazy for trying to find him, but they gave me a small team to accompany me." said Lorraine. "So how did you in up a town over?" Ask Knox. "Well, we had received witness accounts of him causing trouble and fleeing Starkhaven, but had no leads. I told them we'd go over one more town near the river and if he wasn't there, we'd return home. Turns out, he ended up showing. The night of the attack, he was among them. Good thing I convinced them to go a little further. If it hadn't rained so bad the last couple of days, we wouldn't have even been there." said Lorraine as she looked off in the distance. Her expression was of melancholy.

It was soon turning into nightfall when Knox and Loraine decided to make camp. They had reached the end of the Minanter River's most northern branching water way. Lorraine put up the tent as Knox did a bit of fishing. They already had some smoked fish packed away, but seeing how this was the last river they'd run into, it was good to be prepared.

Once he was back, he immediately started prepping the fish and got it cooking on the fire. There was a light cool breeze with the sound of leaves rustling and the sounds of the river in the distance. As the fire crackled, Lorraine and Knox sat down to relaxed.

After a while, the fish was cooked and they both started eating. Mid bite, Lorraine got annoyed and asked Knox to entertain her. "What? What do you mean? Can't we just eat in piece?" replied Knox. "I'm bored! Surely in situations like these, it the best time for stories! Surely you have one or two horror stories you can tell me?" asked Lorraine. "Well, we'll ignore the fact that I was trying to eat." Knox went back to eating and Lorraine looked at him expectantly. "Your serious?" Knox put the remainder of his meal down and started thinking. "Well, most of the horror stories I know, involve getting killed or slaughtered by templars, loosing magic suddenly, things like that." Knox said it with a apologetic look, kind of ashamed of himself. "I see..." Lorraine realized that even though it's true she and Knox got along, their relationship was far from the norm.

After realizing her disappointment, Knox decided to make up a story on the fly. "Well, there is one story... Never mind! It's probably not scary enough to tell. Some templar told it to me long ago. He was probably senile." Hearing this, Lorraine's head shot up and she got bright -eyed. "Tell me! There's an old templar horror story you know?" Lorraine moved in closer to Knox and for a brief moment, he was too busy admiring her eyes to remember the task at hand.

"Right! Well, the story involves a templar that was shipwrecked on a deserted island during exploration. He was traveling through the Boeric Ocean when a bad storm hit that night. The sky was as black as pitch and the waves were so violent the ship threatened to capsize at any moment. In each passing moment, one could be seen praying to the Maker for deliverance, knowing that evil threatened to take their lives that very evening.

The rains were harsh and made what little visibility they had almost void. The only way the templar knew he wasn't alone was by the terrified shouts around him. As he grasped part of the ship for dear life, the lightning strikes would reveal clouds swirling in the most disturbing ways and waves as tall as mountains steadily approaching the ship! Men around him were being cast into the ocean that were unfortunate enough to lose their grip.

As disturbing as all of this was, that wasn't what frightened him most. What made his breathing stop, what made a cold sweat bead down his brow, was what he caught a glimpse of during the last lightning strike." Knox paused to let it sink in. "What was it?" asked Lorraine almost too afraid to hear the answer. "A shadow. Something enormous moved out in the ocean and looked as if it was getting closer. There was a long moment that the lightning didn't strike and the templar tried his best to rationalize what he hoped he had imagined.

He asked around to those still alive on the deck of the ship if they had noticed it and no one had. He looked again during the next lightning strike and saw nothing but the rogue wave as it crashed into the ship. The ship had capsized and the templar was thrown to the side almost getting crushed by the ship as it slowly started it's descend into the depths.

Just then a giant tentacle stretched over the ship and crushed it in two! More and more tentacles started emerging from the depths and screams could be heard all around him as the men got grabbed into their water graves. The templar screamed for dear life as he noticed the huge shadow underneath him! For a moment during the next lightning strike, he was looking into the creatures eyes, just beneath the surface! He was able to make out the entire creature's shape, which appeared to be over a hundred feet in length, but it was it's eyes that scared him the most. Those eyes. Those cold black eyes. Eyes that pierced through a man's soul and seen his worst fears. He quickly found a piece of the deck floating big enough to support him and climbed on top.

The creature had spared his life and his alone. Time went by and as the templar floated along in the dissipating storm. The creature followed him, looming just under the surface. The templar was tired, but he was too terrified to sleep. He stayed up for hours passed his breaking point and kept blacking out until his body gave into exhaustion.

He woke the next day, on the shore of a deserted island. He praised the Maker for delivering him to safety, but soon found out he had no clue where he was. No people, no animals, no food, just the ocean. Through sheer determination, the templar noticed fish around the island at night and taught him self to fish. They were the most beautiful fish he had ever seen that sparkled like the rarest of gems.

When he finally caught one, he went to roast it on a fire but when he took his eyes off it, it was gone! No matter how hard he looked, he could find it! It broke his spirit to loose his meal, but he went fishing again. He put the fish on the open flame and when he looked down at the fire below the fish, the fish had vanished again!

He was now terrified. There was nothing around him and each time he looked away for only a moment, his meal would disappear. With his spirit at the brink he went fishing one more time and this time and held the fish by a stick over the fire and didn't set it down. He spun around and looked with the fish in front of him and nothing was around him. He looked up just in case some creature was above him and saw nothing, but when he went to take a bite, it again, was gone! He screamed and howled for a long while and thought he was loosing his mind.

The following evening he went to fish again and this time he eat the fish raw by the ocean. The fish was the most delicious thing he ever tasted, but for some reason, even after he was done eating it, he didn't feel his hunger go away. He went fishing again and again and each time after eating the fish, he found his hunger hadn't subsided! He must have ate a dozen or more fish and felt like he ate nothing!

In a fit of rage, the templar unsheathed his sword and started hacking away at the island's plants and then went back the the spot he would always catch fish and started to wildly slash at the water. A few slashes in the templar stopped dead mid swing. He thought ever so briefly, that he had seen the fish disappear and a huge black eye starring back at him! He felt a cold feeling overtake him and felt like he was starting to have trouble breathing. His body started writhing like it was in pain and parts of the island started to fade out of existence. As a last ditch effort before collapsing, he put power into his blade and stab into the water at where he had seen the eye and blood shot out of the ground!

The templar suddenly was surrounded by water and the grip of a giant tentacle was beginning to loosen! Confusion and panic over took him as he realized the eye he had seen in the water by the island's shore, was him starring into the giant creature's eye! With his last breath, he swam to the surface of the ocean to find the piece of wood he was floating on. He quickly climbed on and waited for an attack that never came. The creature had left and a few days later, he was picked up by a passing boat, vowing to never set sail again. The end."

When Knox had finished his story, Lorraine said nothing and he assumed that the story was a failure. Knox got up and told Lorraine that he would go relieve himself. Lorraine started roasting the remaining fish as she walked away thinking about the horror story. She had noticed that Knox was gone for a while and her thoughts began to wander. She got up to stretch and started starring at the full moon. _There's no way that story is real right? I mean, he implied that the giant squid creature was a mage! It's true that from what I hear, some Darkspawn have magic. Though they're rarely seen dragons have magic... _Lorraine had always wanted to go on a boat trip somewhere, but after hearing that story, it was now out of the question.

Lorraine walked back to the fire to discover the fish was gone! A cold sweat went down her temple and her heart started to pound. There was no one in site and yet, the fish was gone! Lorraine unsheathed her sword and looked around the camp treading cautiously. Knox came out of the tent and studied her odd behavior. "What in Thedas are you doing you silly templar?" Lorraine spun around wide-eyed and lowered her sword embarrassed. "Are you coming into the tent or did you find something?" Ask Knox. "On my way!" She replied.

As she laid under the blanket with Knox, she giggled lightly. "What's so funny?" asked Knox. "For a moment I thought the fish disappeared! When you said something I felt so silly thinking of that story you told me." replied Lorraine. "What fish?" Lorraine turned to face him and looked at him like he was joking, but his face was completely serious. "The remaining fish I put on the fire after you left." Knox looked at her like her sanity was in question. "I didn't see any fish when I got back. Just you starring into the sky." replied Knox. Lorraine's face was of pure terror. She decided tonight, to lay across his body instead of not facing him like normal. Knox just shook his head.

**Chapter 5**

The next day, late in the afternoon, while Knox and Lorraine were in the Weyrs with Rialto due east of them, they ran into a a group of 10 mages blocking their way. Lorraine exchanged a worried look on her face and Knox smiled as they slowly kept approaching. "Stay behind me let me do the talking. If this turns south, I'll ask for your help. Don't cast any anti-magic before I say to and we'll be fine. I think." said Knox. Lorraine looked at him incredulously and turned to the mages. "You think?" With that Knox slightly increases his horses speed and they stopped short a little more than twenty feet from them. The mages don't seem amused and when they caught a glimpse of Lorraine's armor, Fire started erupting from most of their hands.

The horse was getting agitated as Knox climbed off and smiled at them. "Don't be that way! We're all friends here!" greeted Knox. "Friends? What makes you think we mages are "friends" with a knight and a templar?" Asked the man with long blond hair. "I'm actually a mage! The beauty you see behind me is my wife!" replied Knox with a big grin on his face. "Kill them! I don't have time for jokes." Stated the blond man.

At once, ten fireballs came at Knox and Lorraine and with a stomp of Knox's right foot and his hands raised to his sides, a wall of earth shot underneath him blocking the fireballs. Knox's eyes began to crackle with energy and he clamps his fist together and all the mages minus the leader who was mid walking away, were petrified up to their shoulders in dirt! Knox then exhaled and the dirt wall along with the dirt surrounding the mages fell off slowly. This caught the leader's attention along with the rest of the mages. The blond man walked up to Knox and shook his hand. Some of the mages when freed, were holding a spell in there hands, but let the energy fade upon the leader's handshake.

"Sorry. I thought you were just saying that to save yourselves. You have to understand, we just fled the Circle and the thought that a templar could tell others our location..." said the blond leader. "My wife wasn't injured, so no one needs to parish today." The leader looked at Knox incredulously and and realized he was being serious. The look on his face said he thought he could take them all out. The leader thought he was completely mad, but something said he'd die trying if not succeed in doing so, if it ever came to it.

Knox walked over to Lorraine and she just raised an eyebrow at him. "So, I'm your wife now?" asked Lorraine. "For now. Have you decided?" asked Knox. "Yes. Let's move on. Even if it's nightfall before we hit the city, I rather sleep in a bed." Lorraine replied. Knox talked to the mages for a while to hear the news of what was going on around Thedas and what Circle they had fled from.

**Chapter 6**

Once he learned all he could, they set off for Antiva City. It had been night for the past few hours when they arrived in the city. They passed what looked like expansive vineyards before entering the enormous port city. Once inside, the city contained what seemed like thousands of whitewashed buildings bathed in bright yellow torch light. The ground was covered in aged cobblestone and there were waterways all throughout the city. In fact, there seemed to be more water than road. There were gondolas taking people from one end to the other. The building seemed to be connected to each other and there were many rows of grand arches and windows everywhere.

As Knox and Lorraine walked through the streets, the few people they passed by seemed to go from smiling warmly to utter shock. Each person they passed seemed to have blatant reactions and instantly would stare, ignore them or start laughing. This made Knox and Lorraine very uneasy since they couldn't determine the cause. Lorraine asked Knox if he had been to Antiva before and he stated just once.

When they finally spotted an inn, they took their horses to the inn's stable and secured them. Before walking in, you could hear drunken laughter, people arguing, glasses clanking and orders being made. When Knox and Lorraine walked in, all of that instantly died. They received a bunch of stares and and both of them stopped in their tracks.

Knox finally lost his patience and had to find out what was causing this reaction. "What is it? What is everyone staring at us?" Just then he followed their gaze and realized it was actually directed at Lorraine. "What is it? Is there something on my face?" asked Lorraine. One old drunken man started laughing and the rest followed suit. The old drunk stumbled up to Knox and asked him what was wrong with his companion? "What do you mean what's wrong with her?" Knox looked perplexed by the question. "Well mi amigo, for starters, she's dressed like a man!" The old drunk and everyone burst into laughter again. Lorraine looked at them as if she would draw her blade on every last one of them! She started to unsheathe it and Knox forced her to stop midway. "I'll have you know this is the standard issue armor for female templars! There is nothing manly about a female becoming a warrior!" retorted Lorraine and the guys in the bar started clutching their sides and some of them fell out of their chairs! "We're not from around here, so please be respectful to my companion you lot!" Yelled Knox. Some of them halfheartedly replied an unconvincing grunt.

Knox grabbed the seething Lorraine and walked her over to the counter to talk to the inn keeper. "Just remember, we're here to sleep for the night. I can't have you murdering the entire inn!" "That will be up to them." snorted Lorraine.

Knox paid the coin and took their things upstairs to their room. After setting their things inside, they went back down and ate. During the meal, they discussed making their visit to the house and what time they'd leave the city. After coming to an agreement, they went back up stairs to rest.

The following morning, Knox woken up early and Lorraine had slept in like Knox originally planned to do. Dreading what was to come, Knox decided to get a pint of ale. As he slowly started to drink it, a young injured girl covered in dirt and bruises suddenly burst through the door. It appeared as if she had been kicked and her hands were bound. She had filthy brown hair and her eyes looked like she hadn't slept in days.

Just as Knox was preparing to ask her if she was alright, three templars emerged through the doorway with a look of disgust. "Filthy mage!" spat the templar with the black goatee. The templar with the brown beard went to the side of the girl and kicked her in the ribs. The girl landed a few feet from Knox and he put his drink down and checked on the girl. She was writhing in pain and silent tears were streaming down her face.

"Stay still. I'll end this." stated Knox, only loud enough for her to hear. The other templar sat down and ordered a drink as if none of this concerned him. Both the owner and the patrons were too afraid to say anything and looked away. Knox got up and as the templar with the goatee approached Knox to get to the girl, Knox gave him a backhand so powerful, the templar instantly fell, smacking his head onto the ground. The templar with the beard unsheathed his blade and came at Knox, but the first few swings were easily dodged and only when the last swing was unavoidable, did Knox take out his blade.

Knox and the templar fought for a few minutes and Knox kept making a fool out of him. Knox was only smacking him with the side of the blade and flipping the sword around at the last second before a strike and smacking him in the face with the hilt! The first templar had gotten back up and Knox was now fighting both of them!

The few patrons in the tavern part of the inn were now against the wall, watching the scene unfold. Knox was reflecting both their blades, dodging and using the tables, chairs and pillars to avoid there strikes. Whenever Knox found and opening, he'd punch them in the face! No matter the angle they attacked from, they weren't getting the upper-hand. They finally called over the last templar who had been dreading getting involved. When he joined the fight, Knox was finally starting to feel some pressure and wasn't going in for punches anymore and they still weren't getting a hit in. Deciding to change locations, Knox fights his way to the door and they follow him out.

Once outside,the sun was just really starting to rise, but was covered by the clouds. The cobblestone streets were soaked with water as if it had rained last night and most the gondolas were still docked. Knox had run to the edge of the dock and the templar were a good distance from him. The templars got fed up with loosing and decided to add holy fire to their blades one after the other and prepared to attack.

"You seriously want to continue? I've spared your ignorant lives that don't deserve mercy and this is your answer?" stated Knox with rage in his eyes. The templar with the goatee sneered. "You die here knight! After we toss your dead body in the bay, we're going to send that mage girl in after you! Maybe I'll slowly drown her and buy pancakes afterward! I am hungry after all." Seeing no signs of remorse, Knox raised his sword above his head and his eyes crackled with immense power. The next time Knox spoke, there was an echo and it sounded like the voice of an angry god. "So be it." The sky suddenly became unnaturally dark and a huge column of fire came forth from the sky! There was a raging wind as it touched down and the heat could be felt from a hundred feet away. Knox stood in the middle of it and glided in their direction, rapidly closing the distance! The templars made a run for it while desperately trying to maintain their shields. Even though the templars didn't come in contact directly with the pillar, they were getting sucked into the air by the vortex and could be seen spinning around it as the pillar threatened to engulf them!

Meanwhile Lorraine, now up, was outside with half the street, witnessing what was going on and for the first time Lorraine was terrified of Knox's power. Knox caught a glimpse of Lorraine starring in horror at the sight in front of her and he immediately stopped the spell before it was too late. The heat instantly dissipated and Knox gently lowered them to the ground. Confused on why they weren't dead, they starred up at Knox in horror. Knox's angered face turned neutral and he healed them of their burns. If it wasn't for their shields and him ending the spell when he did, they definitely would have perished. Now their skin only looked slightly red as if they were in the sun a bit too long.

"If I EVER, get word that you're still going around torturing mages, I won't let you off so easy! Now get up and walk over to that templar near the inn and thank her for saving your lives! The templars ran over to Lorraine immediately and thanked her. They then apologized for what they did directly to the girl and ran for their lives. The girl flinched when they came near, but looked in bewilderment at their sobbing apologies.

Knox made his way to the girl and a feint blue energy came over his hands as he healed her. He was able to mend her broken ribs back into place so she was only left with a light bruise and all her other injuries were now gone. Minus needing a bath, she looked alright. Knox smiled and she returned the favor. "Thank you!" She leaped on Knox giving him a big hug.

Lorraine was getting agitated as she felt the hug was going on too long. She lightly cleared her throat and no one noticed. Scowling Lorraine cleared her throat louder and looked daggers at Knox. Knox looked over and seen Lorraine's loathing toward both of them and he immediately pulled her away.

They exchanged names and she told him her name was Rose. She explained that she grew up in an orphanage and was constantly being picked on by the other girls. "Two days ago they thought it would be amusing to gang up on me and cast rocks. It was seven girls against me so, I couldn't fight against them! They were angry cause I was getting more attention from the boys than them and thought they'd teach me a lesson. I was terrified and angry! I just wanted the pain to stop and the next thing I knew, it did. When I opened my eyes, the girls surrounding me and rocks were frozen in place! The templars didn't care why it happened or what they had done to me over the years. They just saw a mage that needed to be taught a lesson. Instead of going straight to the Circle, they've been beating me throughout the city for several days. You were the only one who dared to do anything." said Rose.

Knox and Lorraine's face looked in horror at hearing her story. "That's not how they were supposed to treat you! Not all templars are like that!" said Lorraine. "Seems enough of them are. I've heard the horror stories about mages being dragged of by templars and people calling for the templars on people they didn't like, mage or not." said Rose.

"What do you plan on doing now?" ask Knox. "Is there somewhere we can drop you off?" "Can you take me to the Circle?" asked Rose. "You want me to drop you off at the Circle? Well maybe the Circle here hasn't fell yet, but there is a good chance of a fight breaking out. Most mages in towers want freedom." Knox paused. "That's probably the last place I should be in all honestly. I may be a knight, but if anyone near the tower heard of my disagreement today, I might end up there as well..." "You do remember that I'm a templar right? If you were really worried, surely you would've tried ditching me?" ask Lorraine. "How do you know that I still won't? One day I might get tired of that radiant hair of yours and make a run for it!" Knox said with a smirk. Lorraine rolled her eyes. Rose couldn't help but look in shock. _Was it really possible for mages and templars to get along so well? _Rose would have thought all templar were evil, but here stands a good example of one laughing with a mage.

**Chapter 7**

Knox and Lorraine took Rose to the tower and there was a definite look of grimace on Knox's face. As they walked inside, there were literally hundreds of mages walking about and templars watching over them looking for any signs of trouble. After speaking with the head templar in charge and the first enchanter, Rose was admitted to the circle. As Knox and Lorraine were preparing to leave, there was an assembly called and they were to attend.

Knox, clearly nervous about being there longer, tried to hold his calm demeanor. He was clearly unnerved and looked like he could make a run for it at anytime, but said nothing. The First Enchanter made a brief speech alongside the Head Templar. They spoke on making sure more incidents like Rose's didn't occur and that templars weren't abusing their powers. The Head Templar spoke of stripping the templars responsible for the incident of there titles and sending them prison.

The First Enchanter then called for Knox and Lorraine to come to the stage. They hesitated momentarily, but then went to the stage wandering what they were going to be asked. The Enchanter asked them their opinions of the Circle, on living outside the tower, the war, why Knox was a knight and their relationship with one another.

The room was made of cobblestone and huge enough to house all in the tower and had a high ceiling. There were torches lit all around for lighting with only one small window emitting sunlight. The stage was made of old dark wood and had stairs leading up to them so everyone could see the presenters on stage.

Knox spoke up first on what he thought. "Honestly, I don't like the Circle and I believe they're falling for a reason. If the Circle were just schools for one to come and learn magic and how to blend in with non mages, it would be fine, but not in it's present state. Most of the circles are destroyed or in the process of it. Soon the time will come when the Circle may not exist and there are going to be a lot of mages that will need to learn to adapt to the real world and the world to them. Once the truth about magic is taught instead of lies and fears of it, people may learn to adapt to another."

Lorraine then spoke her peace. "I can see the uses of having a Circle and providing a place for mages with no homes to go to and guidance they need. I'm not too sure if locking people in a tower without freedom of choice is the solution though. I've seen first hand that not all mages should be feared and not all templars are to be trusted. I met Knox as a town was attacked by blood-mages and he rescued me. It was the first time I ever seen a knight that could use magic! If it wasn't for him being an apostate, It wouldn't have been just my life, but the rest of the town's lives that would have perished. Now we're both on a mission which we soon have to get back to!"

Knox then started speaking on the final parts. "As far as the war, everything's still up in the air. There is no clear right or wrong since both sides have valid points, but freedom for mages must happen. There are templars on both sides and none of them traitors. It boils down to 1000's of years of tradition vs truth and interpretations of the chant of light. As for me being a knight? I liked swords so I learned swordsmanship and blended it with magic." At this statement, there were a lot of eyebrows raised.

There was an apprentice mage that raised his hand at the comment. Knox responded and let him ask his question. "So what does that do exactly? Why even both with a sword if you know magic?" "Imagine if instead of a templar using anti-magic they used magic. For instance, if a mage normally fought a templar up close and the templar cut off their magic, the mage is done for, unless they use blood-magic. Since I can use a sword, I just fight them like normal with or without magic." "Impossible..." said a templar leaning against a wall near the stage, perhaps a bit louder than he meant.

"It's true! I've seen it myself." Rose shouted from within the audience. "He took out three templar without breaking a sweat, without using magic! It was only when they kept persisting and starting using anti-magic that he started using magic himself." said Rose.

The Head Templar took a calculated look at Knox. "And I'm to believe that you should walk out of this tower after beating up three of my men?" "I had very little choice in the matter. They were viciously beating a young girl in front of me and when someone who could fight back put a end to it, they got very upset. Please understand, I don't go around picking fights. My duty as a knight is to stop injustice. Be it mage or templar." said Knox. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that huge column of fire I noticed in the city earlier? The one that looked like a tornado set ablaze?" "Dragons perhaps?" replied Knox with a innocent expression.

Tensions were starting to build. The Head Templar was definitely seeing Knox as a threat that probably should be dealt with. Lorraine also sensing this decided to end it and start heading out. "I believe we've sparred as much time as we could afford from our mission. It's time we took our leave." Knox and Lorraine started heading for the door after saying goodby to the audience. With a look, the Head Templar had the templars that were guarding the door to block the exit. "What makes you think I'll let you out?" Lorraine looked back with an unamused expression. "Cause you can't stop us. A Seeker gave us our mission and I have authority to request ALL mages in this tower accompany me if I choose. I hope I don't need to empty out a tower to prove a point?" ask Lorraine. He simply scowled and gestured to let them pass.

Once outside, Knox started laughing. "Do you really have that authority?" "Probably not. I know I can request supplies, but if people fall under that category too, then... maybe?" Lorraine giggled. "I had to sound like I did either way. Let's hurry up and get to the house to let that person's family know of your friend's death so we can go home.

**Chapter 8**

It had turned evening by the time Knox had reached his friend's mother's house. At the time, the wife and son were visiting and they were sitting down eating a meal together. Knox knocked and went inside. The family looked overjoyed to see Knox had come to visit and greeted him enthusiastically. The son went up to hug Knox's leg and the mother also gave Knox a hug which he halfheartedly returned. It was only a moment later they noted the husband wasn't behind him.

Inside the home it was beautifully decorated in an Orlesian style. The furniture was decorative with a lavish wooden table that could fit ten people, a couch with floral prints on the cushions, vases with golden trim and pictures scrolling around them and on the mural-painted ceiling, was a low-hanging Schindler.

His friend's wife looked down and a look of confusion spread upon her face. Knox said nothing, but his expression told everything. That's when the wife noticed the sword Knox had in his hand wasn't his, but her husbands. The mother who was halfway about to take a spoonful of her soup, dropped it just before it reached her lips. The sound seemed to have echoed in the back of their minds.

"My son..." said the mother daring not to finish the question. "Dead. Died in battle saving the town." Knox eyes looked up pleadingly. "If only I wasn't on a mission... If only I had gotten back sooner, maybe I could have..." Knox trailed off. "I see." was all the wife could manage to say.

Knox handed her the sword and she slowly walked away with silent tears falling from her eyes. She placed it in the chair where he normally sat to eat, then placed her son at the table and started eating. When the small boy asked where his father was, all she could do was sob uncontrollably.

There was a small knock at the door sometime later from Lorraine. She had stayed outside to let Knox take care of his personal matter, but seeing how it was now late and there was a chill in the air, she needed to know what was going on with their sleeping situation. Knox explained who it was and she came in.

"You two can use the guest room if you wish to stay the night." said the wife. Knox and Lorraine agreed and made their way to the room. After removing their armor and setting it in a neat pile, Knox seemed to have lost his train of thought. He was hunched over his armor starring off with unfocused eyes. Knox slowly walked over to the window and starred at the star-filled sky. Lorraine sat on the bed for a while and watched him. Realizing he might want to be alone, she silently left the room and gave him a moment to himself.

Lorraine sat at the table and ate her supper provided by the mother. It was a simple meal comprised of cheese, bread and soup. Once she was done, she took a small tour of the house, then finally went back to the room.

Once inside, she found Knox sitting on the edge of the bed with his eyes bloodshot. It seemed it was the first time his friend's death really hit him. He was wiping away his tears quickly when she entered the room. Knox then got up and climbed into bed. As Lorraine followed suit, she blew out the candle on the table by the bed and got in. Wishing to help him feel better, Lorraine leaned in to give Knox a kiss on the cheek, but Knox caught her movement at the last second. As he turned his head to see what she was doing, their lips met. Lorraine froze with their lips still together and it wasn't until a long moment later, she pulled away. Both their eyes now somewhat adjusted to the dark, could be seen wide-eyed. Lorraine's eyes shifted nervously and as she started to pull her face away, Knox leaned over and gently caressed the side of her face while returning a passionate kiss. As their lips parted, their breath soon grew heavy and Lorraine pulled him closer. Knox then kissed her upon the neck and Lorraine lightly moaned. Wanting to lose herself, she started kissing Knox in return and they started ripping off their clothes feverishly. The two of them made passionate love while bathed in the moonlight.

**Chapter 9**

Sometime after they fell asleep, they were both jarred awake by something resembling screams. Disoriented as their eyes tried to focus, they noticed the house was on fire! Not just the house, but the entire city from the looks of it! They quickly got into their clothes and armor and just as they finished, a huge part of the roof caved in just inches from them! A sense of dread came over them as they noticed a vast column of fire pass by quickly followed by a bellowing high dragon!

It hasn't even been a day yet when Rose had joined the circle in hopes for a better life, despite the confinement. She had just gotten her room assignment and met her new roommates, ate a decent meal and started learning how to read. All in all it was the greatest day in her life. Or at least is was, before the attack came. Most of the guards that were patrolling the tower at night went missing and it wasn't until the end of the shift when no one reported in, that a search had started. It had gotten real noisy and one could hear the templars nervously scrambling around the tower. Rose had dared to open her door and see what the commotion was about when she heard it.

"Dead! They're all dead! I couldn't even find half of them, but the one I did find, looked like he was eaten! Only his boot was left!" shouted the terrified templar. "Calm down! What could have possibly ate him?" shouted another templar. "_Ate him? Did I hear that right?"_ thought Rose to herself. "Mage! Back in your room!" shouted a templar. Rose quickly shut her door and ran into her bed.

With the guards doubled for the second part of the shift, they continued looking around the tower to no avail. Finding nothing other than the pools of blood with no bodies, all the templar were on edge. Some of them were floating around the idea of blood-magic being at work, but it didn't quite fit the criteria. Two guards who felt mentally spent, decided to go into the mess hall to relax.

It was a nice open round area that had statues aligning the walls. The tables were set up in rows and all the chairs were pushed in minus the ones they were using. Upon walking in, one of the templar took notice of a very lifelike marble statue of a drake next to all the other statues of mages and templars.

"Man, I don't remember that drake statue. Do you? It kind of gives me the creeps." The other templar looks over half looking. "Who cares about a statue? You probably weren't paying attention and didn't notice before now." "I guess. Maybe your right. The strange disappearances tonight are messing with me. It's not like someone just brought it here." At that moment, the templar looked back at the statue momentarily after facing his partner and swore the statue seemed a bit closer to them. A cold chill ran down his spine and he turned to face his partner. Thinking he must be crazy, he shrugs off the idea and started joking back and forth.

The same templar while getting up to stretch, noticed the drake statue was now amongst the tables instead of near the walls, half the distance to reaching them. He drew his blade and starred out in terror not sure what to make of this. His fellow guard was shocked by his sudden drawing of his blade and looked around. "What is it?" "The statue...it moved!" The other templar looked over and surely noticed the statue had indeed gotten closer! They both went over to it and examined it. They took a turn touching it with their blades and it sounded solid. Since nothing happened, they decided some mage must be out of their quarters messing with them and started looking around. When they found no one, they turned putting their swords away. It was only a moment later the templar noticed the only footsteps he heard echoing off the floor were his own.

He looked everywhere in the room to no avail. It was only when he noticed the statue was near him despite the distance he walked from it, he redrew his blade once more. He noticed the statue was now in a different pose and there was blood dripping from it's mouth! The templar cast a cleanse upon the area and the drake went from looking like marble to flesh and blood with hard scales. The drake attacked and the templar desperately fought it off until he finally slayed it.

Running down the halls to desperately get to their knight commander, he makes his way only mere feet from the door when a drake hanging from the ceiling, snatches him up mid-stride and devours him. It wasn't until the boots of the carcase fell to the ground with a loud crash, that the knight-commander got out of bed sounded the alarm for all templars to search the tower.

Soon the tower turned into a hunting ground and both mages and templar alike were desperately trying to defend themselves from the drakes attacks. It seems there was at least a dozen inside the tower and they were using the environment to their advantage. The tower shook several times and it seemed as if it were going to collapse. Suddenly in some of the wider areas of the tower, walls started to buckle and dragons started to pour in! Mages and templars alike were getting massacred. Only most of the more powerful mages that were in wide enough areas held there own. Templars that managed to shield themselves from the flames, still had to deal with the dragons tails, claws and sheer size while confined to a building. Only about a quarter of the mages with half a dozen templar made their escape from the tower.

**Chapter 10**

Disregarding the tower being lost and there not being enough templars to stop the mages from wandering in the city, the templars still drew their blades toward them. The First Enchanter looked at them in indignation. "Your chances of wining are minuscule at best. The tower is lost and it seems the dragons are spreading into the city. Is this really the time to worry about us mages?"

This is how Rose and a few dozen mages ended up outside the tower during the dragon attack in the city. Most of the inhabitants were either dead, burning or running for their lives. The lucky few that were burning and lived near the river, waterways and bay were casting themselves in the water for redemption. Merchants were fleeing in every direction while others tried to put out fires that were destroying their life's work. With the city falling into annihilation, something needed to be done quick.

Knights courageous enough not to flee, were jumping into the water and trying to fight off the swarm of dragons. Some got lucky and took a few down, but it wasn't until the templar and mages joined the battle that any real progressed started. This is around the same time Knox and Lorraine started fighting.

Drakes could be seen hunting in packs around the city. One drake was giving chase after a man forcing him into a narrow pathway as one waited on the rooftops for the kill. The man tried taking one of the sideways available, but found fire breathing drakes, effectively leaving him only one choice. Once he finally reached a dead end, the drake on the rooftop leaped upon him, pinning him to the ground under its' weight and repeatedly started ripping into his flesh.

There was a dragonling chasing a woman with the grace of a deer not far from a dock. It pushed the woman into the water, then ran away. The terrified woman got out of the water to only have the creature come back and knock her into the water again a few hundred feet away from where it last pushed her in at. It seemed like it was playing with her more than trying to harm her. It roared and repeated knocking her in a few more times before it met up with another dragonling that was carrying a smoked ham. They started devouring it on the spot and completely ignored her. The woman thanked the Maker and ran for her life!

The templars were dealing with a dragon and had their anti-magic shields up. They were slowly approaching the creature, but even though their shields were holding up, it didn't mean they couldn't feel the sheering heat outside the bubble surrounding them. A few of them were on there knees trying to use all their willpower to not let their shields give out, but the smell of burning flesh was growing stronger by the second.

The knight-commander managed to sneak behind it and the templars cleansed the area of magic and cut off it's mana supply. The flames ceased, but the dragon was only more furious. As the knight-commander lunged in for a strike, the dragon spun and struck him away with a wing, sending him hurling a hundred feet into a waterway. As the commander landed, he skipped on the water's surface like a pebble for several hundred feet before spinning out of control and plunging into the water.

The templars left were getting blown around by the flapping of the dragon's wings and were frantically dodging it's tail as it swiped at them repeatedly. A few of them got strikes in, but nothing fatal due to the toughness of the dragon's scales. The dragon flew into the air a couple hundred feet and then crashed down to the ground. The impact made some of the surrounding building fracture. The cobblestone underneath the dragon was reduced to dust and rubble and a ripple in the waterways nearby could be seen. The templar were scattered about and disoriented when the dragon crushed it's first victim beneath it's foot as it roared. He didn't even have time to scream before becoming one with the surface. The dragon closed in and bit down on another templar. As it lifted its' head back in the air, you could hear his screams fade, then cut off abruptly as it swallowed him. His sword fell from the sky with a crash that reverberated as it hit the ground.

Just as it seemed all hope was lost for the three remaining templar, a sudden chill filled the air and frost started covering the ground. A blizzard of ice shards and stalagmites rained down from the sky and the dragon appeared covered in ice. Though it wasn't frozen it was moving at a craw's pace for easy execution. It was Rose along with another female mage with short brown hair that was ear length.

It seemed they used most their mana casting the spells and stamina running to get there. "Hurry! Kill it while the spell still holds!" shouted Rose. The dragon suffered many blows from the shards, but it wasn't dead and if the spell Rose cast to freeze it let up, they were all more than likely dead. Not even taking the time to respond or thank them, the templars ran in and stabbed the creature repeatedly in the underbelly and chest. The frost suddenly let up mid stab and the dragon made a swiping motion at the templars. Fortunately the attack fell short by a few feet as it collapsed to the ground slain.

With the battle over, the youngest of the three templars, the blond guy in his early twenties, ran over to the mage next to Rose and hugged her tightly. "Adelina!" She looked in shock, then started to blush. Rose looked at them with a wide grin on her face and Adelina regained her composer and shoved him away.

"What's this talk of saying my name and just hugging me out of no where." said Adelina without looking him in the eyes. "Oh, sorry! I meant Enchanter Adelina! I was just so happy you were safe and then you saved me so... Sorry! I shouldn't have forgot your title no matter the situation." he apologized. "So, not for hugging me, but for forgetting my title you apologize?" she looked at him incredulously. "Should I have waited till no one was around?" he said this with a straight face and Adelina's face twitched. Without warning, she punched him in the stomach and he slightly bent over, but it seemed she hurt her hand more than hurting him.

Adelina cradled her hand then started shaking it as she spun around and the templar went to aid her. He took off his gauntlets and started massaging her hand. A few minutes went by and they started talking amongst themselves completely ignoring their surrounding. Rose stood next to them and Adelina introduced the templar as Sofronio. They were apparently seeing each other in secret, so the tower falling was the best thing that could have happened for them. They all started exchanging small talk as the other two templars starred at them unsure what to make of the situation. That's when reality struck them back to Thedas as they heard a loud roar in the distance. They were still in a city with a high dragon attacking. They seen spells going off and fire flying in every direction. Everyone ran in the direction of the high dragon that was now visible in the sky above the buildings.

**Chapter 11**

Once there, Lorraine, the First Enchanter and a half a dozen mages could be seen taking shelter behind some buildings. They all looked exhausted with sweat rolling down there brows. There were several rows of buildings that were reduced to rubble and ash with the cobblestone streets scorched.

Knox was running from a concentrated beam of fire that followed him for several hundred feet alongside the waterways. As he ran, you could see the water in the waterways give off heavy clouds of steam. Knox dove behind a particularly large building and the beam continued past him for several feet before ceasing. Knox made his way back to the group and noticed Rose's party arriving.

"Ah, thank the Maker! Now we have a chance to get close to it. You guys up for slaying a dragon?" said Knox with a grin on his face. "I'm game! With four templars to attack and almost a dozen mages for back up? What could possibly go wrong?" said Lorraine with a smile. "Well, we didn't have enough people to distract it earlier while we started casting or enough people to physically attack so, we were just taking casualties or ending in stalemates. We are dealing with a beast of legend after all." said the First Enchanter. "What is required of us?" asked Sofronio. Knox turned to face him. We will have all the templars run in to fight it." said Knox. The templars looked at him incredulously and laughed out loud. Lorraine drew her sword and peered around the corner to get a glimpse of the dragon. It had landed back on the ground with a thunderous sound. The sounds of laughter faded quickly and they nervously drew their blades.

"Relax. I'm going in there too. Let the mages maintain your shields as you fight. They'll be casting a magic barriers, haste to increase our movement, rejuvenate so we don't get exhausted and I'll add frost-weapons for our attack. We must try our best not to die so the First Enchanter can set up a spell to shatter the dragon." said Knox. "Can you really do such a thing to a creature of that size?" asked Lorraine. "We can try. If it doesn't work, we'll have to go from there and improvise. Not everyday you see a high dragon, much less fight one. Though I don't leave the tower much so I can't say for certain." said the First Enchanter as he grimaced.

The mages started casting both arcane and creation spells so all members in the party were ready for battle. Knox, Lorraine and the templars ran out to face the dragon. They scattered out and slowly started making their way in. The dragon bellowed with a loud roar and started breathing fire in all directions trying to get rid of the annoyances. Only problem was, the creature couldn't focus on one target and it kept frantically switching from one person to another.

As the dragon found it's mark with Lorraine, it spewed a concentrated blast of fire and if not for the shield, she would have been incinerated instantly. She made her way closer and hid behind a building just in time before her shield completely drained. Lorraine praised Andraste for it holding out as long as it did. Though she had only had the beam engulf her shield for mere seconds, she was already soaked in sweat. When Lorraine first got hit, the first few seconds she didn't notice a temperature change. It was only after about half a minute's time that the temperature raised so drastically, she felt as if she were inside of a oven! Lorraine had to jump over debris from fallen buildings, weave through a few carts, boxes and dive to make it, but she had. She took a moment to gather herself and wait for the shield to regenerate. As she looked down, she looked in shock at the steam coming off her body.

The dragon kept firing a concentrated beam of fire at the building Lorraine was taking shelter behind and the building was beginning to buckle and burn from the onslaught of attacks. Knox shot a barrage of of Winter's Grasp into the dragon's face and a number of them hit their mark. The dragon raged and suddenly charged at him! The dragon had just missed him as Knox narrowly got out of the way of the creature before it crashed into some building just behind him. The templars took advantage of the fallen over creature and started slashing away at it. None of the cuts were deep from the blades, but the ice added extra discomfort to each attack the dragon suffered.

The dragon quickly recovered and spun on the spot using it's tail to sweep all in it's way. One templar was unfortunate enough to get hit by the full brunt of the tail and get smacked up against a building. His body was dragged along as the tail continued it's motion and became nothing more than a red streak on the wall. Knox dropped to the ground and caused an earthquake that made a large crevice. Knox immediately sank into it as well as Sofronio, who had just lost his footing, due to its sudden appearance. The last templar that was trying to outrun it's tail almost got out of range of it, but got smacked in the back and landed several feet away.

The dragon slowly started approaching the fallen templar that was now screaming in agony. Smoke was heavily leaving the dragon's nostrils as it looked down on him. The templar's armor was dented and it seemed his back was broken. He helplessly looked up at the dragon knowing his fate. He simply closed his eyes and accepted it. Just as the dragon started to lean down for the kill, there was a loud ringing sound coming from a bell. Lorraine was striking one leaning against a wall repeatedly with her sword. The dragon looked over and charged in that direction.

Just as the dragon had left, a young female mage ran to the templars side to heal him. After getting help to remove his armor. A blue aura surrounded the mage as she started healing him. A sound of bones resetting and organs healing could be heard. The templar's expression relaxed soon after and he passed out from exhaustion. The mage looked slightly pale and worn out from healing him and sat down to recover.

Once the dragon made it over to Lorraine, it picked up the bell and started investigating it. It put it in it's mouth and shook it making it give off a muted clanging sound. It dropped it from it's mouth and it fell with a loud ring making the dragon start kicking it around with its claws and chasing it. Knox, Lorraine and Sofronio stopped what they were doing for a second and looked in amusement. Here was this killer dragon that's been rampaging throughout the city and now it's playing with a bell like an ordinary house cat. Or at least it was until it landed on it, flattening the bell, causing it to cease functioning. The dragon roared at it in anger that it stopped making sounds and remembered its surroundings. Knox and Sofronio had just joined Lorraine and the dragon glared at Knox accusingly.

"I'm not sure why, but I think it's blaming you for it's toy being broken. How about we leave and let you handle it?" said Lorraine with an even expression as she grabbed Sofronio and started walking away. Knox looked at her with an unamused expression and then noticed the dragon was looking daggers at him! "Seriously?" asked Knox in disbelief.

Just as the dragon's chest cavity could be seen expanding, the dragon was suddenly being encased in stone! It seems the mages were finally ready for the big attack they had planned. As the stone covered the dragon, large cracks could be seen throughout it as if it wouldn't hold. Knox raised his sword and the surrounding air dropped to subzero temperatures. He gathered a great deal of mana and cast Hand of Winter. As the dragon started to freeze, he noticed the ice didn't reach all parts of it's body and ran around casting cones of Cold like rapid fire and Rose came to his aid. After the dragon was finally encased in ice, the First enchanter cast a huge cage of raw telekinetic force filled with spiritual energy. "Crushing Prison!" shouted the First Enchanter with a loud echo. As the cage collapsed on the dragon, the mages gathered earth around them and started bombarding the dragon with Stone Fist!

After they relented their attack, they waited for the dust to settle and get a clear look at the dragon to confirm if it had been slain. The dragon looked dazed and battered, but it was still breathing. The dragon bellowed and started breathing fire in every direction with no particular target. Knox was barely missed by one of it's beams and Lorraine was hit, but she erected a shield just before it hit her. The mages raised their spell might and started casting a mighty blizzard over the dragon.

As the sky darkened, a heavy snow mingled with hail fell upon the dragon. It first slowed it down as it was charging at Knox's party, then froze in place again. Knox eyes began to glow and crackle with raw energy. The very air around him seemed to charge and make one's hair stand on end. He reached up toward the sky and lightning emitted from his hands into the clouds. The clouds as if answering his call, rained down a tempest of multiple lightning strikes upon the dragon!

As the spells ended, the dragon was sprawled out over the ground with its legs twitching. Moments later it tried getting up to move, but was too damaged to do anything but fall over. Lorraine walked up to the dragon with her blade drawn and stood upon its neck. She made a quick downward stab into the base of its head and the dragon was soon still.

**Chapter 12**

As the party gathered themselves and started leaving, Knox, Lorraine and Sofronio took their time carving into the dragon to collect some of it's bones, scales and teeth. Knox found a cart they could pull and loaded as much as possible in it for trade later and took some slabs of meat of the dragon for food as well. Rose and Adelina sat back and watched in disgust. After some time had passed, some of the head merchants of the city came to see whom had put an end to the dragons.

Knox explained how they came to fight them and the merchants listened. After the story was done, the merchants explained that they would pay them for their services and sell off the carcase. Seeing how everyone else had left the money was split between them and they became some of the most powerful people in Antiva. Knox and Lorraine split a mansion, bore a son, had an entire wardrobe and weapons made from dragon scales and bone. Knox now had more magical weapons than he could do anything with and they were of the same quality as King Maric's blade or better.

Rose had her own mansion built, Adelina and Sofronio split one and the First Enchanter build a school for studying magic for mages and non-mages alike. They all became close friends overtime and Rose would visit Knox and Lorraine for special magic and sword lessons. Over time, Knox would become one of the head specialized teachers at the magic school to anyone he deemed worthy to learn his fighting style.

**End**


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